Dress
Category
Costume
Date
1877 - 1882
Materials
Cotton, Silk
Order this imageCollection
Smallhythe Place, Kent
NT 1118926
Caption
Fashion for women during the Victorian period was physically restrictive. Ever-changing dress silhouettes shaped by tightly corseted waistlines featured heavy, full-length skirts worn over crinolines or finished with bustles, as style dictated. Aesthetic dress evolved as an antidote to prevailing trends, and aspired to combine the beauty of historic approaches to dressing with comfort and practicality in garments that enabled the wearer to move naturally. Actress Ellen Terry (1847–1928) embodied the Aesthetic Movement’s approach of seeking to express beauty in all aspects of life. She was part of a circle of artists and designers who were proponents of the style, and it informed her design choices, from the decoration of her home to the appearance of her stage costumes and everyday clothes. This loose silk day dress is intended to be worn uncorseted. It is decorated with panels of floral embroidery and finished with silk ruffles at the collars, cuffs and hem. The pockets are bespoke additions, ideal for carrying scripts, books and letters. Emma Slocombe
Summary
A full-length cotton ‘aesthetic movement’ day dress that once belonged to actress Ellen Terry (1847–1928). It features a vertical panel of red, yellow and blue silk embroidered flowers at the front, with matching collar and cuff bands, and embroidered strips also decorate the top of the pockets. The back is simply styled with a ‘Watteau pleat’ falling from the neck to bottom hem, creating an informal train. The bottom hem and cuffs are finished with rushed flounces. The unusually large pockets at the hip are likely to be bespoke, a practical idea of Terry to carry books, letters and scripts.
Full description
Ellen Terry (1847–1928) was one of the most celebrated English actresses of the late Victorian stage. For over 20 years, she forged her reputation as a Shakespearian lead playing opposite Henry Irving (1838–1905), actor and manager of the Lyceum Theatre Company, London. The drama of her performances was enhanced by spectacular costumes and staging influenced by Aestheticism, a contemporary style which put emphasis on beauty, creative expression and sensory experience. Writing in 1879, author and critic Henry James (1843-1916) commented, ‘Miss Ellen Terry is “aesthetic”; not only her garments but her features bear a stamp of the new enthusiasm’ (Cumming, 1987). Terry was part of a circle of artists and designers who were proponents of the Aesthetic Movement, and included her partner in the late 1860s and early 70s, architect and designer Edward William Godwin (1833 –1886). She embodied the philosophy and principles of aestheticism, seeking to express beauty and individual creativity in all aspects of her life, and the style informed her design choices, from the decoration of her home to the appearance of her stage costumes and everyday clothes. Aesthetic dress evolved as an antidote to prevailing fashion trends, which for women during the late Victorian period were physically restrictive and characterised by tightly corseted waistlines. In contrast, aesthetic dress aspired to combine the beauty of historic approaches to dressing with comfort and practicality, in garments that enabled the wearer to move naturally (Addison and Underwood, 2015). This loose silk day dress decorated with brightly coloured panels of floral embroidery and finished with silk pleats and ruffles at the collar, cuffs and hem is intended to be worn uncorseted. Combining beauty, comfort and practicality, the addition of large, full pockets likely to have been Terry’s idea. They are ideal for carrying the quantities of scripts, books and letters she regularly had with her.
References
Liberating Fashion: Aesthetic Dress in Victorian Portraits (ed. Rhian Addison and Hilary Underwood), Watts Gallery, 16 February- 7 June 2015 Antrobus and Slocombe 2025: Helen Antrobus and Emma Slocombe, 100 Things to Wear: Fashion from the collections of the National Trust, National Trust 2025, pp. 126-127.